


Call me "__"

by Aeternum



Series: Leo Inter Serpentes Additional Scenes [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kinda, does it count as hurt/comfort if your bestie immediately starts a fight on your behalf?, hex/comfort maybe?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-13 23:50:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14758635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeternum/pseuds/Aeternum
Summary: Scarlett learns to deal with her injury, and Archie has something to tell her.





	Call me "__"

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Daughter_of_Scotland](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daughter_of_Scotland/gifts).



> Written for Daughter_of_Scotland, who asked for "I'd love some hurt/comfort scenes between Scarlet and Archie because of Scarlet's eyes. You know, it hurts sometimes, or her being self-conscious about it, and Archie just being there for her and comforting her." I took a very liberal interpretation of your prompt, but I hope you like it anyway!

When Scarlett awoke, it was to find herself lying in an unfamiliar bed, with a warm weight spread over her lower legs. She opened her eyes – and panicked when she realised that not only could she not open her left eye, she couldn't feel it at all. 

She struggled to sit up and found herself in a plain, white room. For a moment she thought she was in the Hogwarts infirmary, but although this place had the same medicinal smell, it looked different. St Mungo's, then – which meant her injury or injuries must be pretty severe.

Trying not to hyperventilate, she raised her hands to her face and found a cloth bandage wound around her head, covering her left eye.

Memories came flooding back with a rush: heading off to the Ministry to save Draco; making her way through the Department of Mysteries with Luna, Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Neville; Snape, Lupin, Draco's mum and a bunch of other adults showing up to rescue them, right before they were surrounded by Death Eaters; and that final, horrible, frantic flight through the Ministry. The very last thing Scarlett remembered was being hit with a fireball from none other than Bellatrix Lestrange.

“You're awake!”

Scarlett had been so caught up in fear that she'd failed to notice her little brother, Rupert, curled up at the end of her bed in his pyjamas. Before Scarlett could even open her mouth, Rupert had scrambled up the bed and flung his arms around her shoulders.

“You're awake you're awake you're awake!” he all but shouted.

“Rupert, what -”

He jerked back. “I gotta tell Mum and Dad! Back in a sec!”

He jumped off the bed and tore out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Alone, Scarlett brought her hands back to her face. Most of the left side was numb, and there was that thick bandage over her eye, but the right side felt blessedly normal.

The door opened and Rupert darted back inside, their parents Nousha and Danny at his heels, with a Healer following behind them. After they'd kissed and hugged Scarlett, and fussed over adding more pillows so she could sit up, her parents sat down in two of the chairs to the right of her bed, holding onto her hand. Rupert ignored the third chair, and clambered back onto the bed to snuggle up to Scarlett on her other side.

“How bad is it?” Scarlett asked in a small voice.

Her parents shared a glance with the Healer, who had picked up Scarlett's chart from the end of her bed. She gave Scarlett a warm smile.

“Scarlett, I'm Healer Hammond. I've been overseeing your care while you've been here.”

“How long have I been here?” asked Scarlett.

“About ten hours. You've only just missed breakfast,” said Healer Hammond.

Scarlett nodded; she'd been afraid that she'd been unconscious for days, or even weeks. “Okay. So what's wrong with my eye. I still have it, don't I?” she asked, gripped by a sudden panic.

“It's still there,” Hammond assured her. “In fact, now that you're awake, why don't we try taking off this bandage, hmm?”

She walked over to Scarlett's side, and with a few deft wand movements, had the bandage off, along with a pad of gauze.

“Looking good so far. Can you open your eye for me?”

Scarlett did so, blinking a bit at the sudden light. “Everything's blurry,” she said, her panic returning.

“That's to be expected – a side effect of the potion we poured in last night. It should wear off after a few minutes of having your eye open,” Hammond assured her.

“Are you sure?” Scarlett asked. “I'm a Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team, I need to have my eyesight!”

There was a tiny pause. “We'll worry about Quidditch later, hmm?” Hammond said.

Scarlett stared at her. “No, we'll worry about it now! What's wrong with my eye? Can't you at least tell me that?”

Hammond nodded. “Of course. Do you remember being hit by a fire curse? Well, the curse in question was Dark. You've been left with a fair amount of scarring, I'm afraid. As for the eye itself, I expect your vision to return to its normal quality, but there's been some permanent damage to some of the muscles and nerves.”

“What does that mean?” Scarlett asked.

“Your eye will tire easily. After using it for a while – say, when reading – the muscles will gradually begin to slow, so you will have trouble following movement. The retina has sustained spell damage which will at times limit your ability to see colour, and your depth perception may also be weakened.”

Scarlett's left eye began to sting as she blinked back tears. “So Quidditch is out.”

“I'm sorry, kiddo,” Danny said.

“Not necessarily,” Hammond said. “I can give you some drops to use when your eye begins to tire that will improve its performance. It may never be what it once was, and the colour perception in particular will come and go, but I see no reason why you couldn't play Quidditch.”

Scarlett didn't believe that for a second. “I'd like a mirror, please.”

Hammond nodded, and conjured a handheld mirror. Scarlett took it and had to stifle a gasp when she saw her reflection. Half her face was a red, shiny, blistered mess, from the crease next to her nose, all the way over her left eye to her ear. Her left eyebrow was completely missing, as was a hand-sized patch of hair. 

“The blistering will go away with time, and we have a topical ointment for you to use that will lessen the scarring, but I'm very sorry to say that you will always have some significant scarring there,” Hammond said.

Scarlett raised a shaky hand to her face. It no longer felt like human skin. “Will my hair grow back?” she asked.

“I expect your hair to, but I don't have much hope for your eyebrow,” Hammond said.

Scarlett nodded and looked at her parents. They both smiled at her, but she could see that both of them had tears in her eyes.

“I want to go back to Hogwarts,” Scarlett said.

“Sweetie, it's too soon. Don't you want to come home with us instead?” asked Nousha.

“I'll give you some time to talk it over, but you are fit enough to return to Hogwarts if that's what you want to do,” Hammond said.

She left the room, shutting the door behind her, and Scarlett was left alone with her family.

“Why do you want to go back to Hogwarts so soon?” Danny asked.

“I want to know that my friends are okay,” Scarlett said.

It wasn't a complete lie: she _did_ want to know how everyone had fared after that horrible night at the Ministry, but mostly, going home with parents on the verge of tears, and a younger brother who was still clinging to her like a limpet sounded like hell.

“They're all fine. Professor Sinistra came by to give us an update. Draco and Professor Snape are in the Hogwarts infirmary overnight, but they're expected to make a full recovery, and everyone else only had minor injuries,” said Nousha.

Scarlett sighed in relief. “And you're not cross with me?”

“Kiddo, we're just relieved that you're alive,” said Danny. “You went to save a friend in danger – that was very brave of you. We're proud of you.”

“Though we really don't want you to make a habit of doing things like this,” said Nousha.

“Trust me, I won't,” said Scarlett. “So, I can go back to Hogwarts? I want to finish the term out. You know, get back to normal, not let Lestrange win and all that?”

Danny nodded. “I can understand that.”

Nousha looked at her husband, then back at Scarlett. “Only if you promise to follow any instructions that Healer Hammond might have for you.”

“I promise,” Scarlett said.

“Without even hearing them? What kind of Slytherin does that? I always said you should've been a Hufflepuff like me,” Danny said.

Scarlett grinned, happy that her dad was still able to tease her. Nousha got up and fetched Hammond back. She spent the next half hour going through Scarlett's care instructions, using a lot of medical terms that Scarlett only half listened to. It all boiled down to her needing to wear an eye-patch for a few weeks to let her eye heal, and applying healing paste to her face in an effort to minimise the scarring. 

Her parents smothered her in yet more kisses and hugs when it came time for her to leave, and Rupert cried when Scarlett eventually left with McGonagall, who had also been discharged. She Side-Along Apparated Scarlett to the gates of Hogwarts, muttering spells under her breath to unlock and re-lock the gates behind them. They set off up the drive at a slow amble, as McGonagall was leaning heavily on a cane.

“Miss Lympsham, allow me to say how impressed I am with your attitude over your injury. You've shown great courage and maturity today,” said McGonagall, in a kinder voice than Scarlett had ever heard her use.

“Are you trying to say I should've been sorted into Gryffindor?” Scarlett asked.

“Not at all, though I would have been proud to have you in my House,” McGonagall said, then gave Scarlett a rare smile. “Given how often you find yourself in detention, however, I'm more than happy to let Professor Snape deal with you.”

Scarlett couldn't help giggling. “I'll tell him you said that, Professor.”

“You'll do no such thing, young lady,” McGonagall said sternly. “You will, however, make sure that you go to him, or to Madam Pomfrey, should you have any trouble with your eye.”

“Yes, ma'am,” said Scarlett.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, then parted in the Entrance Hall. Scarlett couldn't help feeling nervous as she walked down to the dungeons. She ignored everyone in the common room, not in the mood to be gawked at by every Slytherin in the school, and hurried into her dorm, which was distressingly full. There was a moment of utter silence after Scarlett walked in, then Archie got up with cry.

“You're back!”

Scarlett didn't have a chance to say anything before Archie was hugging her. Ella Wilkins, Kinjal Bhatia and Yurika Haneda all followed, but Ursula Penkridge and the Carrow twins stayed on Flora's bed, whispering to each other.

“We didn't think you'd be back this term,” Archie said, holding onto Scarlett's arm.

“Does it hurt?” asked Yurika.

“Not really. I have this salve that's sort of numbing,” Scarlett mumbled. “Can we talk about something else?”

“You can't blame them for asking questions. How often does anyone meet a real life cyclops?” Flora called out.

“Especially one so short!” Hestia added, while Ursula cackled.

Scarlett froze, but before she could even think of hexing them, Archie had spun around and fired off three Stinging Hexes. Ursula and the Carrows all shrieked with pain as red welts erupted all over their skin.

“Say another word to Scarlett about her eye, and I'll give you worse than that!” Archie yelled.

“I'm telling Snape!” Hestia sobbed.

“Yes, do that. Go tell him that you've made fun of someone for their facial scar. I'm sure he'll take your side,” Archie said.

Scarlett wasn't the only one who gaped at Archie's cool tone. She was used to Archie being the quiet, level-headed one in their foursome with Ginny and Luna, the one who usually had to pull Scarlett off the Carrows. Scarlett wasn't the only one staring at Archie; every other girl in the room was, too.

“We'll get you back for this, Shetty,” Hestia snarled.

“Scarlett and I can take you three without breaking a sweat,” Archie retorted.

“And they won't be alone,” Ella said.

“Yeah, you'll be outnumbered four to three,” Kinjal said.

“Make that five to three,” said Yurika.

Scarlett grinned. While she still had to come to terms with the fact that she had to give up Quidditch, at least she knew her friends had her back.  


********

  
“Scarlett, welcome, come in.”

Priya Shetty smiled at Scarlett, but she couldn't hide the way her eyes lingered on Scarlett's scar.

“Hi, Priya. Archie up in her room?” asked Scarlett.

Priya nodded slowly. “You've always had very short hair, Scarlett. Have you ever thought about growing it out?”

“No, I haven't,” Scarlett said shortly.

Priya seemed to realise that she'd offended her. “It looks good – very you, isn't it. I just wondered... Ah, ignore me, Scarlett. Go and say hello to Archie.”

Scarlett gave a grimace-like smile, then bounded up the stairs to Archie's bedroom. The door was wide open, but she shut it behind herself as she walked in. 

“Your mum's acting weird,” she announced, flopping herself down onto Archie's bed.

“Yeah, I know,” Archie sighed. “What'd she say?”

“She asked me about my short hair. Said I should grow it out – I guess so I could cover my scar,” Scarlett grumbled.

“Oh, no, that had nothing to do with your scar,” said Archie.

Scarlett frowned. “Then what's her problem? And how'd you know she's acting weird?”

Archie took a deep breath. “She's been acting weird ever since I came out to her.”

Scarlett blinked; she certainly hadn't been expecting that. “Came out as what?”

“I'm not exactly sure,” said Archie.

“What? How can you come out without knowing what you are?” asked Scarlett.

“I meant I don't really know what word I want to use to describe myself,” said Archie. “I'm going with 'genderqueer' for now. I don't feel like a girl _or_ a boy.”

Scarlett nodded, thinking that over. “So... do I still call you Archie? Oh no, you're not moving out of our dorm, are you?”

Archie laughed. “My name's still Archie, but I'm dropping my full name, and I'd like you to use 'they', 'them' or 'theirs' for me. And I'm not moving out of our dorm! Not gonna lie, I'd love to get away from the Carrows and Ursula, but I'd miss you too much.”

“You'd put up with the Carrows for me?” Scarlett lunged forward and hugged Archie. “That is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for or said to me!”

Archie laughed. “You're full of it, Lympsham.”

“Am not. I love you, Archie.”

“Love you too, Scar.”

They pulled away, and another thought occurred to Scarlett. “You're not cutting your hair, are you? Is that why your mum's weird about mine?”

Archie shook their head. “I'm not cutting my hair. Mum just thought I'd turn into a tomboy like you all of a sudden. She – er – said she thought you'd influenced me somehow.”

“Me? Hey, I might have short hair but I'm still a girl!” Scarlett said.

“I know that, Scar – sorry, _Scarlett_ ,” Archie said.

Scarlett picked up one of Archie's pillows and whacked them over the head. “Don't you dare stop calling me Scar, Shetty. That Death Eater scum might've taken Quidditch from me, but I refuse to let her take my nickname!”

“I'm sorry, Scar,” Archie said. “I just thought that calling you that might upset you.”

“Nope. I won't hide this thing,” Scarlett said, tracing her scar. “I'm not going to spend my life trying to flatten my hair down over it like Harry does with his scar. I earned this. Anyone who has a problem with it can sod right off.”

Archie raised their eyebrows. “You're very, er, adamant. Has something happened with your family?”

Scarlett lay back with a groan. “Mum suggested I wear makeup, or use a glamour.”

“And you don't want to?”

“No.”

“Fair enough.”

“I know she meant well, but I meant what I said: I'm not going to hide this. It's part of me, whether I like it or not, so I may as well get used to it.”

“Hmm,” Archie hummed. “What'd you mean about Quidditch?”

Scarlett forced down the tears that always sprung up at the subject. “My eye's not good, Archie. I'd last an hour in a game, maybe two, before it got tired. I can't stay on the team like this.”

“But you love Quidditch,” said Archie.

“I know that. Doesn't change the fact that my eye's fucked,” said Scarlett, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. 

“Don't you have those drops?” Archie asked.

Scarlett snorted. “Yeah, right. Can you imagine? 'Excuse me, Madam Hooch, but can you stop the game so I can put some drops in my eye?' You know people would accuse me of cheating, Archie.”

“People are stupid,” said Archie.

“No arguments here,” said Scarlett. “I'm already going to have enough people staring at me over this scar, I don't want them staring at me because they think I'm a cheat, too.”

Archie laughed. “Are you even listening to yourself? You're a Slytherin, Scar. Half the school already thinks you're a cheat, along with the rest of the team. I know you've heard them all booing every time you walk onto the pitch. No one's going to stare at you because of that.”

“You give the oddest pep talks,” Scarlett said.

“Doesn't mean I'm wrong, though,” Archie said. “Those drops work, right?”

“Yeah...”

“Then _use them_ , and keep playing Quidditch!”

Scarlett sat up to face Archie. “I can't. You know whoever's the new captain will chuck me off the team.”

“No, I bloody well don't know that,” Archie retorted. 

“Of course they would, and who could blame them? If I were them, I'd want a Chaser with two good eyes,” said Scarlett.

“Tell you what,” Archie said, their eyes gleaming as they leaned forward, “if you talk to the captain about whether or not you can stay on the team, I'll tell Spencer I fancy him.”

Scarlett stared at them. Archie had fancied Spencer for two years now, and Scarlett, Ginny and Luna had all tried to convince them to talk to him.

“Deal!” 

Archie grinned as they reached out to shake Scarlett's hand.  


********

  
Scarlett dropped down onto Archie's bed and pulled the curtains shut. “I talked to him!”

“Congratulations, but I've no idea who you're talking about or why it's more important than my Transfiguration essay,” Archie said.

Scarlett grinned at them, bouncing excitedly. “Harry. He's letting me stay on the Quidditch team!”

At this, Archie looked up with a grin. “Scar, that's great!”

They leaned forward and hugged Scarlett.

As soon as they separated, Scarlett looked at Archie expectantly. “So?”

“So what?” asked Archie.

Scarlett grabbed Archie's foot and shook it. “So, when are you holding up your end of our deal?”

“I'm writing my essay right now – as should you, I might point out,” Archie said.

Scarlett rolled her eyes. “I'll do it later. Now answer me!”

Archie looked up with a smirk. “I never specified a time.”

Scarlett's mouth dropped open. “You sneaky fucking -”

“You should know better than to make such an unspecific deal,” Archie replied.

Scarlett narrowed her eyes. “Sometimes I wish I'd gone into Hufflepuff like my dad.”

“You'd still have to finish your homework, no matter where you were sorted.”


End file.
